Guess Who Owns That

September 22, 2017

A Northern Virginia utility needed to cross a small parcel of private land near the Dulles Airport access road. Utilities contact property owners and negotiate such easements every day, but in this case county property records showed that the land was owned by the Federal Aviation Administration, which apparently owns the entire 28-mile length of […]

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My Decision May Change Your Life

September 15, 2017

A quick search on the Internet easily finds hundreds of famous quotes about how the everyday decisions we make can change our lives. Motivational speaker Anthony Robbins says, “Your life changes the moment you make a new, congruent, and committed decision.” Seven-Habits author Steven Covey asserts, “I am not a product of my circumstances; I […]

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I’ll Take That!

September 8, 2017

Suzette Kelo bought what she thought was her dream house, a little pink cottage in Connecticut with a great view, where the Thames River flows into Long Island Sound. She lovingly restored the home, but her dream didn’t last. When a pharmaceutical plant was built nearby, the City of New London decided the residential section […]

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Hello, McFly, Are Your Rich Yet?

August 31, 2017

Speaking at a conference in Los Angeles last week, I got acquainted with Howard Hyde, editor of the CitizenEcon.com website. He is also a prolific and gifted writer, author of the entertaining book, “Escape from Berkeley,” chronicling his philosophical transformation after growing up in radical leftist Berkeley, California in the 1960s and 70s. Among Hyde’s […]

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Returning Science to the EPA

August 21, 2017

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt recently delivered a strong message that EPA’s regulation of pesticides and other chemicals will be based on sound science, not political activism. It is welcome news for both the economy and the environment. Mr. Pruitt denied a petition filed by anti-pesticide activists to ban chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate pesticide used around the […]

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They Doth Protest Too Much, Methinks

August 18, 2017

One of Shakespeare’s most famous lines comes when Hamlet asks his mother how she reacts to a certain character’s effusive and flowery language, and she responds, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” It’s among the bard’s many lines still quoted today, this one used when someone’s overblown rhetoric seems to disguise insincerity. That is […]

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This One Cannot be Ignored

August 11, 2017

Colorado’s late great Senator Bill Armstrong was known for taking days or even weeks to “think about” an issue, without ever reaching a decision on something his staff (including me) thought hyper-urgent. Often it turned out to be less so, as problems often resolved themselves without the need for him to spend time on them. […]

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How Much for the Whole House?

August 4, 2017

When we finished the basement in our house a few years ago, I was shocked to pay 86 cents apiece for 2×4 studs (I am old enough to remember when they were a quarter). That job required many studs so it added up quickly. Today in the big home improvement stores, they cost more than […]

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RESPECT, Just a Little Bit

July 21, 2017

The new Administration has reassigned several federal land managers to positions in other regions, or even in other agencies. The Bureau of Land Management’s Colorado State Director, for example, was transferred to the Bureau of Reclamation. Some reports about the “shakeup” have implied that it is unusual, a few even calling it unprecedented, though in […]

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My What Big Teeth You Have!

July 14, 2017

Forty years after the Mexican wolf was designated as endangered, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has released a draft recovery plan that outlines what is needed to declare the species recovered. At this rate, we are well on the way to recovering all endangered species, in only a thousand years or so. The […]

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